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Comment by calafrax | Hacker News Reader

The packaging waste with some meal kits is a negative but they also eliminate a lot of food waste which is a positive.

The traditional food distribution system is massively wasteful but all of that waste is hidden so it is easier to ignore.

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> The packaging waste with some meal kits is a negative but they also eliminate a lot of food waste which is a positive.

That's really hard to estimate; did Blue Apron (etc) users previously buy a lot of groceries, cook some of them, then throw the rest of the food away as it rotted? Or did they simply cook less, and rely more on delivery, restaurants, or putting more work into planning their meals?

Food waste happens at every level of the food distribution system. Produce discarded in a field becuase it didn't meet some ripeness or quality standard(likely unchanged), produce that rots or is damaged during transport to local distribution channels(could be reduced by meal prep), food that rots or is unsold at the retail level (obviated by meal prep), food purchased by consumers that goes unused(obviated), and food waste that gets landfilled(instead of getting composted at meal prep place).

How does meal-kit distribution eliminate a lot of food waste?

Because the ingredients provided are the exact amounts needed for a meal. If I was making the same meal doing my own shopping I will probably purchase slightly more than I need of some perishable ingredients. These will in a lot of kitchens end up as waste and not used in other meals.

Leftovers?

One word answer's with a question mark are usually always the answer, thanks for contributing to the conversation.

That's fair, but when I shop I don't buy food with just one meal in mind. Sure, at home maybe I'll have a bit less onion one day then I would prefer because I used half of it the night before, but storing excess in the fridge and buying with leftovers in mind or multi-use items (bulk bag of carrots) means I have very little excess food waste. Certainly excess food waste is far, far less than packaging material from these companies.

You are the exception though. The statistical fact is that most people are like notyourwork, myself included. I'm absolutely horrible at this. I buy a huge bag of potatoes because even if I waste half the bag (although usually I'm not that bad) it's cheaper than buying a few as needed. I want to use them all but I just don't get around to it in time.

You can bake them in the microwave and put them in the freezer until needed. There's a lot you can do with a baked potato. I like to cut those freezer pot pies with them so they're actually filling.

And sometimes life happens and food goes bad before I have a chance to cook everything I purchased. I cook a lot so I am aware of the versatility of perishable ingredients. That doesn't change the premise of my point.

Why is this being downvoted? It's like almost every post here is interpreted as right/wrong in the context of The Great Argument, and as such, folks are punished for sharing in general. rainbowmverse contributed an idea I'd never thought of (being in notyourwork's camp myself), yet they are being downvoted because their post does not directly support The Most Correct Parent.

Like, can we just talk, sometimes?

It's not so much that people end up with a lot more food than they need and throw it out. It's the wastage at the supermarket and elsewhere in the distribution chain. Furthermore, I suspect the meal kit companies are tending to replace takeout of various sorts and eating out more than they're replacing conventional shopping and cooking.

And there's lots of waste throughout in those cases even when it's not visible.

It's hard to quantify any of that but, plastic bags or not, I suspect Blue Apron is relatively environmentally friendly.

Presumably because of better portioning. For a lot of meals, you only need a very small amount of one ingredient which you cannot buy in that quantity. Meal kits come with the right proportions for every ingredient.

Yes, waste is reduced on the consumer side, but there is also enormous waste in the supply chain and retail.

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/us-throws-away-much-half-food-...

Beyond normal shelf spoilage from super markets there's a lot of ingredients that can only really be bought fresh in amounts much larger than can really be used. For example cilantro or parsley generally comes in either in cheap large bunches or much more expensive individually (plastic) packaged smaller servings but the large bunches is way more than most people could reasonably use before it begins to wilt and rot so it's wasted.

Put the cilantro/parsley stems immersed in a glass of water. Cover the leaves with a plastic bag and it will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week without wilting

Might try that. Space is a little tight in our fridge though so it might not work.

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